281 
355 

PV 1 




SAVANNAH, GEORGIA. 



PROCEEDINGS 






i 



it ^Ir 






GEORGIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 



ON OCCASION OF ITS 



THIRTY-SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY, 



FEBRUARY 14, 1876. 



^avaunali, C5«.: 



I'.RINTED FOi: T II H SOCIETY 



1870\ 







J. H. ESTILL, PRINTER, 

MORNING NEWB STEAM PRINTING HOUSE, 

SAVANNAH. 



«^ tho Q 



On Q 
Voar, ^^""-at/on 



This Pamphlet is issued under instructions, given to the 
undersigned Committee, to publish the proceedings of the 
Georgia Historical Socioty,'*fl^'ftildSg official possession of 
Hodgson Hall on occas^^Jl^ ."^of ».its '•lat^ Anniversary. In 
carrying out these instructions, in order to add to the 
interest and value of the publication, the opportunity has 
been taken to furnish a description of the building and a 
photograph of the interior of the Library Hall. 

The Printing and Publishing Committee. 

Savannah, May 1, 187(5. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE HALL. 



Hodgson Hall, the new building of the Georgia His- 
torical Society, is commemorative of the late Mr. William 
B. Hodgson, and was erected by the direction and at the 
expense of his widow, Mrs. Margaret T. Hodgson, and of 
her sister, Miss Mary Telfair. By a singular coincidence, 
during the time of its construction, both of these venerable 
ladies died, but, under their thoughtful provision, the build- 
ing was finished by the executors of their estate. 

The building was designed and the plans furnished by 
Detlef Lienau, architect, of New York city. The work 
was done by Savannah mechanics, under the supervision 
of Edward Jones, and after his death under that of his 
son, J. W. Jones. 

This fine structure, built of brick and stuccoed, and 
covering an area of ninety-four feet by forty-one feet, 
stands on the southwest corner of Whitaker and Gaston 
streets, and fronts eastward on Forsyth Place. Its location 
is convenient and beautiful. The premises embrace two 
lots, together one hundred and thirty-one feet by eighty- 
seven and one-half feet, and are enclosed by a handsome 
iron railing on gi-anite base. The exterior of the Hall is 
quite plain, its architecture being adapted to the conven- 
ience and comfort of the Library Eoom. The front, how- 
ever, is ornamented, being built chiefly of brown stone, the 
entrance, by a massive stone stairway and portico, presenting 



a fine appearance. The frieze of the portico bears in reHef 
the inscription, "W. B. HODGSON HALL," while upon 
that of the building are similarly inscribed the -words, 
"GEORGIA HISTOEICAL SOCIETY." The whole 
exterior appearance of Hodgson Hall is solid and impres- 
sive, well befitting the purpose of its erection. 

The lower or ground floor is well arranged for the uses 
and convenience of the Society. Its main room, entered 
both from Whitaker and from Gaston streets, is thirty-six 
feet by thirty-three feet in size, and is intended for the 
Society's meetings, it being well provided with book-cases, 
tables and everj'thing requisite for the transaction of busi- 
ness. Adjoining this is the furnace room, from which 
heated air is delivered to the Library Hall aliove, through 
a register in the floor. Four other rooms of fair siz(^ fill 
up this ground floor, two of which store the Society's miscel- 
laneous property, and the other two are reserved for the 
use of the janitor. 

If the outside of Hodgson Hall is plain, the interior of 
the Library Room is strikingly beautiful and attractive. 
This is the Hall proper, entered directly from the portico 
through the vestibule, and is a noble apartment. For 
beauty, taste and convenience, it is thought to surpass any 
Library Room in the Southern States. To the right of the 
vestibule is the Librarian's room, and to the left the main 
stairway to the lower floor. The book shelves run around 
three sides of the Hall, and are detached from the walls, 
leaving a passage way, into which opens the lower line of 
windows, used chiefly for ventilation. These shelves admit 
books both on the hall side and in the passage way, thus 
providing for double the number of volumes that could other- 
wise be received. This passage is well Hghted by gas 
brackets. 



At a convenient elevation is the main gallery, reached 
by handsome stairs and running around the Hall, and is 
enclosed by a neat iron rail. Book shelves fill the walls of 
tliis gallery, from which there is a fine view of the whole 
interior. The entire shelving of the Hall will accommodate 
over twenty thousand volumes. Above this gallery, encircling 
the whole building, is a narrower gallery built for ornament 
and access to the upper and main windows, which furnish 
the well-distributed light to the whole Hall. This gallery is 
accessible only by the spiral staircase in the southwest angle, 
leading from the ground floor to the roof. 

The Hall is admirably ventilated, and the temperature is 
agreeable even in the warmest weather. It is lighted with 
gas, there being sixty burners disposed in neat chandeliers 
of two and three lights each, projecting from the galleries. 
This leaves the ceiling, beautiful in design and execution, 
and rising thirty-five feet above the floor, oj^en to view. 
The Hall contains several fine portraits of officials of the 
Society, and of men prominent in the history of Georgia 
and the South. Four large walnut tables display the papers, 
periodicals and magazines of the Library, and furnish to 
visitors every facility for reading and writing. 

At the head of the Hall and fronting the entrance, is a 
platform or rostrum for pul)lic speaking. To the rear and 
above this is the admirable portrait of Mr. Hodgson, one of 
the earliest and most valuable members of the Society, and 
for over twenty-five years one of its Curators, and in whose 
honor and to whose memory the building was erected. This 
elegant picture, full length and of natural size, has just been 
placed in position. It was ordered by Mrs. Hodgson for 
this Hall, and its painting occupied for a year the time of 
the artist, Mr. Carl L. Brandt, of New York. This finely 
executed portrait is a striking hkeness, and its accessories 



&te m excellent keeping with the tastes of a literary man. 
It represents Mr. Hodgson in his library, standing by a 
table — an arm-chair and a book-case in the background — 
in the act of turning the leaves of a volume. Lying on 
the table are books and papers and a scroll covered with 
Arabic characters, symbolic of Mr. Hodgson's studies. The 
features, dress and attitude of the figure give a Hfe-like 
appearance of Mr. Hodgson, and, with the brilliant light 
and the faithful reproduction of the appurtenances of a 
library, betoken the genius of the artist. Beneath the pic- 
ture is a marble slab, bearing in gilt letters this inscription : 

IN MEMORY OF 

WILLIAM BROWN HODGSON, 

THIS BUILDING IS ERECTED BY 

MARGARET TELF.1IR HODGSON, 

ANNO DOMINI 1873. 

The open lot on the side of Hodgson Hall gives a 
fine soutlieru exposure to the building, and secures free 
circulation of air. It is intended to cultivate in this lot 
the various shrubs and plants bel(^nging to the Flora of 
Georgia. 



DEDICATION CEREMONIES. 



Althougli Hodgson Hall was finished six months ago, and 
the Georgia Historical Society moved its library thither in 
September, 1875, yet formal possession was not delivered, 
nor the ceremonies of dedication performed, until the Society's 
Thirty-Seventh Anniversary, February 14, 1876. On the 
evening of that day, these, the first public services in this 
Hall, took place at 8 o'clock. Notwithstanding the inclem- 
ency of the weather — a heavy rain prevailing all the after- 
noon, and becoming violent towards night — the large Hall 
was well filled. The attendance of ladies was remarkable, 
and every grade of society was represented by its most in- 
telligent members. Under the circumstances, the large and 
appreciative auditory was highly complimentary to the His- 
torical Society, and a proof as well of the interest felt in its 
success, as of the respect of our cultivated citizens for the 
late Mr. Hodgson and his generous family. 

The music, which was of a higli order and very finely 
rendered, was in charge of Prof. Schultze. A number of 
amateur vocalists, ladies and gentlemen, with the piano, 
occupied the gallery just above the rostrum, and performed 
their parts admirably. 

On the platform, in front of the portrait, were seated 
General Henry R. Jackson, President of the Society, Eev. 
Dr. I. S. K. Axson, and Dr. R. D. Arnold. The ceremonies 
began as follows : 



10 



Mrsic. 
"Mighty Jehovah"— Chorus from "I Martiri," . . Donisetti. 

PRAYER. 

By Rev. I. S. K. Axso\, . Of the Independent Presbj-terian Cliurch. 

M rsic. 
"Spirit Immortal" — Bass, Solo and Chorus, .... Verdi. 

THE FOKMAL DELIVERY. 

After the singing, Mr, William S. Bogart, Treasurer of 
the Society, representing General A, K. La^vton, one of the 
Curators who had been appointed to make the formal de- 
livery of the building, addressing the assemblage, said : 

In the necessary absence from this inaugural service, of 
General Lawton, who was in person to convey, as trustee, 
this beautiful Memorial Hall to the Georgia Historical 
Society, he has executed this duty through a letter written 
to the President and members of the Society, which I am 
requested by him to read to this auditory. In connection 
therewith, and as a part of the history of Hodgson Hall, 
I shall also read Miss Telfair's Deed, made to him, of this 
property, in trust for the Society. 

I can only regret that, while any substitute may per- 
form General Lawton's official task under this Deed, and 
deliver the papers containing this noble gift, no one can 
supply his absence ; and you, ladies and gentlemen of Sa- 
vannah, will therefore lose those words of interest and elo- 
quence, and miss that impressive and graceful oratory, 
witli which he would have adorned a service in itself so 
busiuess-hke and dry. 

GENERAL LAWTON's LETTER. 

"Atlanta, Ga., Felmiary 12, 1876. 
''To the Prefii(Iei)t and Monhcrs of the Geonjia Historical 
Society : 
" I have contemplated with pleasure the prosjject of being 



11 

with you and taking part personally in the interesting 
ceremonies of the 14tli instant, but public duties of an 
imperative nature require my presence elsewhere, and I am 
denied that privilege. 

" I beg to exhibit to you, by the hand of another, the 
Title deed of the Hodgson Memorial Hall, which was exe- 
cuted by the late Miss Mary Telfair during her lifetime. 
By this conveyance to me in trust, I was charged with the 
duty of surrendering the Hall for the use of the Georgia 
Historical Society, Avlien the terms of the gift should be 
complied with by its managers, and the building completed. 
That period has now arrived. According to the terms of 
the trust, I now deliver up the building and premises for 
the use of the Society. 

" This beautiful structure had its origin in the desire of 
the late Mrs. Margaret Telfair Hodgson to erect a memorial 
of her husband, the late William B. Hodgson, for many 
years a distinguished member of the Georgia Historical 
Society. Her death occurred while the building was still in 
progress and without any fovm,cd provision having been 
made for its completion. Miss Telfair then undertook to 
carry out the designs of Mrs. Hodgson, and was loyal to 
her sister in the faithful execution of her wishes and plans. 

"As this building represents the devotion of the one sister 
to the wish of the other, so does Miss Telfair's will — which, 
from the number and munificence of its literary, religious, 
and charitable bequests, has made her death an epoch in 
the history of Savannah — represent the benevolent purposes 
of both herself and Mrs. Hodgson. 

" These bequests, nuitured by the thoughts of many years, 
were mainly decided upon by them during their joint lives; 
and the agi'eement between them was that the survivor 
should give legal effect to the joint will of both. 



12 

"Thus it is, that to the two sisters — Mary Telfair and 
Margaret Telfair Hodgson, united in beneficence to the 
public, as in family affection — th*e Georgia Historical Society 
owes the devise of the TeKair family mansion, standing on 
the historic site of our old royal Governor's residence, 
imposing in size and admirable in architecture ; and the 
handsome bequest of one hundred thousand dollars to sup- 
port it as the * Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences.' 

" To the two sisters unitedly are likewise due the bequests 
to the Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, to 
the Union Society, to the Widows' Society, to the Presljy- 
terian Church of Augusta; and the excellent establishment 
provided for the suffering poor women of Savannah — the 
'Telfair Hospital for Females.' 

'' Thus have these last two members of the historic family 
of Telfair left behind them proofs of patriotism and benevo- 
lence, that will long keep its memory fresh in the hearts 
of our people. 

"Very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant, 

"A. E. Lawton." 

MISS Telfair's trust deed. 

" State of Georgia, 

^^ Chatham County. 
"Whereas, the late Margaret Telfair Hodgson, of the city 
of Savannah, State of Georgia, during her lifetime, com- 
menced the erection of a structurt» or building on lot number 
fourteen (14), Forsyth Ward, being the southwest corner of 
Gaston and Whitaker streets, in the city of Savannah, to 
be called Hodgson Hall, and intended to complete the same 
on a plan furnished by Detlef Lienau, architect, as a 
memorial of her late husband, William Brown Hodgson, but 



13 

for the express use of the Georgia Historical Society, on 
certain terms and conditions made known to said Histoiical 
Society, which are hereinafter enumerated more in detail ; 

"And whereas, the said Margaret Telfair Hodgson departed 
this hfe while said building or structure was, as it now is, 
unfinished and incomplete, leaving a last will and testament, 
without any specific directions therein as to the completion 
and disposition of said lot and building, and also leaving 
Mary Telfair as her residuary legatee ; 

"And whereas, the said Mary Telfair is desirous to carry 
into effect the wishes and intentions of the said Margaret 
Telfair Hodgson in the premises, and to charge the residuum 
of said estate with the cost and expense of erecting and 
completing said building or structure on the proposed plan: 

"ISow, This Indenture witnesseth, that the said Mary Tel- 
fair, of the city of Savannah and State of Georgia, for and 
in consideration of the premises, and of the sum of five dol- 
lars to her in hand paid by Alexander R. Lawton, of the same 
city and State, hath granted, bargained, sold, conveyed, and 
confirmed, and by these presents doth grant, bargain, sell, 
convey, and confirm unto the said Alexander R. Lawton, his 
executors and administrators, all that said lot or parcel of 
land in the city of Savannah and State of Georgia, known 
as lot number fourteen (14), Forsyth "Ward, with the buildings 
and improvements now thereon, in an unfinished and incom- 
plete state, but to be finished and completed at the proper 
cost and expense of the said Mary Telfair, for Avliich ])ur- 
pose the said Mary Telfair does hereby charge the entire 
residuum of the estate of the said Margaret Telfair Hodgson, 
in her own hands now as residuary legatee, or in the hands 
of her executors after her death, to such extent as will 
furnish the means and funds necessary to finish and com- 
plete said building or structure, to be known as Hodgson 



14 

Hall, on the plan prepared for that purpose, or as nearly 
so as practicable ; to have and to hold the said lot of land 
and improvements, now and hereafter to be put upon the 
same, to him the said Alexander R. Lawton, his executors 
and administrators forever : 

" In trust nevertheless, to permit the Georgia Historical 
Society to have the exclusive use, possession, control, and 
management of said building and lot, provided said Society 
will, through its proper officers, accept the same on the 
following terms and conditions, to-wit : That the said build- 
ing shall be known as, and called, Hodgson Hall ; that no 
public speaking shall be permitted withm the walls of said 
building, except under the auspices or connected with the 
business of said Georgia Historical Society ; that no enter- 
tainments or amusements of any kind, which include or 
involve eating, drinking, or smoking, be permitted within 
the walls of said building ; that the building is never to be 
rented or lent out for any piirpose whatsoever ; and further, 
that under the portrait of the said William Brown Hodgson, 
which is to be hung on the wall of said building, shall be 
inscribed, in permanent letters, the following words: "In 
Memoriam, William Brown Hodgson; this building is erected 
by Margaret Telfair Hodgson, A. D., 1873," or other words 
of similar import; and that the other conditions, on which 
the use and control of the building are committed to the 
Georgia Historical Society shall also appear conspicuously 
on the wall of the principal Hall in the building. 

" In witness whereof, the said Mary Telfair hath hereunto 
set her hand and seal this tenth day of June, in the year 
eighteen hundred and sevent^'-four. 

"Mary Telfair, [l. s.] 

" Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of 
"D. R. Groover, William J. Marshall. 

'■'^ Notary Public G. C, Ga." 



15 

To you, Mr. President and gentlemen of the Georgia 
Historical Society, I now deliver these official documents, 
just read, and I deem it an honor to be the medium of 
conveying into your possession this fine Memorial Hall, 
alike a compliment to our honored Society, and a credit 
to the noble women, whose benefactions you will long con- 
tinue to enjoy. 

The President, Hon. Henry K. Jackson, receiving these 
papers in behalf of the Georgia Historical Society, made 
the following eloquent response : 

THE president's ADDRESS. 

Fellow-citizens of Savannah : 

In the formal and public delivery to the Georgia Histori- 
cal Society of an edifice like this, so commodious and so 
tasteful in all of its appointments, so admirably adapted, in 
this beautiful Hall, to the uses of a Library, it was but just 
to the memory of the donors that our attention should be 
directed to another and a kindred benefaction. Originating 
both in the same source, to be devoted, both, through the 
medium of the Historical Society, to the same public object, 
(I mean to the recreation and the intellectual culture of the 
community j, the Hodgson Memorial Building and the Telfair 
Academy of Arts and Sciences must needs stand together 
in close association. In full view, then, of donations so 
munificent, all the more to be remembered in the future 
because they are quite without precedent in the past history 
of Savannah, it would seem as if this occasion should be 
specially characterized by strong expressions of gratitude. 
But alas! ere this structure was completed, both of the 
donors had passed bej'ond the reach of thanks. Benefac- 
tresses of the public of Savannah, not simply unrivaled 



16 

but absolutelr nnapproaclied, none would have depre- 
cated more earnestly than they, while living, any public 
manifestation of gratitude; and, as though Death himself 
had been tenderly considerate of natures so nobly delicate, 
so exquisitely sensitive, ere this occasion for public demon- 
stration had fully matured, they shrank, before the approach 
of praise, into the stillness of Bonaventure. 

It is possil)le that there may be things which might well 
have been said heretofore; idle to undertake to say them 
now ! Words, even of the "charmer, charm he never so 
wisely," are impotent to stir the dull, cold ear of death. 
Not by our words, then, but by our acts, are we to manifest 
our high appreciation of these noble gifts. We, gentlemen 
of the Historical Society, we are to remember that the 
conditions of our trust are sacred; moist with a widow's 
and a lonely sister's tears, none the less copiously because 
silently shed. We are ever to be mindful of the fact that 
here, in this spacious hall, the high public interests which 
we represent are to be associated with a private memory, 
in perpetual companionship. Surely, that was a beautiful 
thought — to connect the memory of the beloved dead 
with the might}^ memories of the Library. What a grand 
companionship is here! What a deathless society sur- 
rounds us ! 

And a society which had given to the life of the dead 
scholar a life-long charm. For, in the honest sense of 
the term, Mr. Hodgson was a sc/iola7\ From his earliest 
years, from the first budding of his intellectual tastes, the 
companionship of books had been more to him than the 
companionship of men; and the tendency of his nature 
giving direction to the tendency of his life, both had com- 
bined to make him the scholar. To his early fondness 
for books, to his passion even in tender childhood for the 



17 

study of language, and more especially the languages of 
the East, is to be ascribed his early connection with the 
diplomatic service, which took him to the richest garden 
of scholarship ; took him to the East — to the Mediterranean 
Sea, around which all most brilliant in history glitters. 
Unlike the man of science— the man of discovery — who 
naturally looks to new realms of earth, or sea, or sky, which 
are yet to be fully explored ; unlike the practical man — 
the man of action — who, with eye steadily turned to the 
future, pioneers the star of emj)ire upon her westward 
course, the man of letters, the man of taste, the man of 
reflection, the schola.e, must needs stand with eye lovingly 
fixed upon the past, and with arms outstretched yearningly 
toward the East. To the realms of the East ! which were 
brooded over by the oldest civilizations ; where the streams 
of history glimmer away into the dim, oftentimes the tan- 
talizing, but at all times the tempting and inspiring tradition • 
whence comes to his ear, as he Ustens, the first sob of 
human existence ; where thought first stirred the air to 
intelligible sound, and, embodying herself in letters, took 
possession of her in^dsible but her immortal empire ; where 
the horizon, as he looks, touches the earth, and the voices 
of heaven are heard by men ; to the realms of the East ! — 
the weary, doubtless, but still the living — the languid, it 
may be, but none the less ravishing — a magnetic power 
attracts him. 

The imagination and the heart of the boy were full of 
the Orient. To get to the East became the passion of 
his youth. To study the languages of the East was to 
him but a labor of love. Strange taste for Washington, 
the city of his birth! Intellectual plant singularly exotic 
in Virginia, whither, l)y a widowed mother, he was taken ! 
No university, no academy, no professor, to give it culture ! 



18 

The silent Book was liis only teacher; the pulseless Book, 
his only sympathizing friend! But the Library, taking 
the spiritual boy into her arms, filled for him the place 
of private fortune, of family influence, of partizan patron- 
ag3. By sheer force of his attainments as an Oriental 
linguist she made him a necessity to government. He 
owad his early appointment of Dragoman to the Barbary 
States, neither to Henry Cla}^ the Premier, nor to John 
Quincy Adams, the President: the Library sent her de- 
voted child to the East. 

Certainly the first, proba])ly the only, American diplo- 
matist, who was at all trained for his profession ; and 
looking through his profession rather to the personal ends 
of scholarship than to the personal ends of ambition, 
we can readily picture to ourselves the emotions which 
thrilled his bosom as he saw the rich opportunities, so 
long and so ardently coveted, full before him ; when the 
Mediterranean first flashed ujxju his vision its classic 
waters. There, upon its borders, was he to become familiar 
with the picturesque life of the East. There, at original 
fountain sources, was he to slake his thirst for language. 
But the study of language of necessity involves the study 
of races — their origin, their history, their laws, their arts — 
in short, their civilization as compared with the higher 
civilizations of the world. And this, of like necessit}', 
involves a philosophic study of civihzation itself. There, 
then, as, full of youth, and hope, and intelligence, and 
impressibility, he should move from one point to another 
over the historic region which constituted the heart of 
the Roman LTniverse ; there was he to gather rich intellectual 
stores, which should feed his silent thought in his after 
years; quickening memories! which, as he should sit alone 
in the quiet precincts of his library, were to pass in gor- 



19 

geous review before him ; quite as foreign to the life around 
him as the movement of an Arabic caravan across the 
desert. 

But here I pray that I bo not misunderstood. It was 
the characteristic clement of Mr. Hodgson's scholarship, 
not the controlling sympathies of his nature, which was 
foreign to the men and things immediately about him in 
the later years of his life. For, while scholarship was un- 
doubtedly to him, what one would suppose it must be 
to every true and thorough scholar, its own great reward; 
making the scholar a companion all-sufficient unto himself — 
never less alone than when alone ; yet his was not the icy, 
exclusive scholarship which in consummating the gentleman 
sometimes destroys the citizen, freezing within him all 
sources of interest in the lives of others — in the general 
life of the community around him. When, in 1842, Mr. 
Hodgson retired from the diplomatic service of the United 
States, and made his home in Savannah, many of us will 
rememl)er how rapidly he became, in interest, in affection, 
in hope, in destinj^ a Georgian. Nay! we know that he 
was animated by a living pul)lic spirit, a pure public 
spirit; I mean the public spirit of a private gentleman 
who aspired to no political preferment. Ever the gener- 
ous supporter of all measures which looked to the 
development of the commercial prosperity of Savannah, 
and to the welfare of her people at large, he was more 
especially the efficient friend of young and struggling 
enterprises, of young and struggling men ; keeping ever 
in active operation a certain capital, devoted exclusively 
to these qiiiet ends. Naturally, the same shrinking mod- 
esty, which characterized an organization of extreme deli- 
cacy, and which generally set a seal of absolute silence 
upon his exotic scholarship, also marked his charity. Im- 



20 

possible iov liim to make a parade of either ! And jet 
it was well known to those who knew him best, that a 
worthy draft upon neither was ever by him dishonored. 
To him — to his pure pnblic spii'it — are wo indebted for 
the first conception of the park ; onr beautiful park. He 
first enclosed it, as it lay in the primal forest; the forest 
of pines, whose sad and sea-like music, when stirred by 
the breeze, had happily chimed with the musings of the 
solitary scholar as he walked beneath their shade. 

But I am admonished by the spirit of this occasion; 
by the reasons which prompted his generous Avidow to 
erect this building as a fitting monument to his memory; 
by the character of the Society to which it has been given 
in trust; by the immediate uses to which it has been 
applied; by the suggestive presence of the Library — I am 
admonished that our special attention should be directed, 
not to the ofticial career or personal life of Mr, Hodgson, 
but rather to his career, to his attainments, to his repu- 
tation, as a scholar. 

But here it is that we do indeed encounter elements 
which are altogether foreign to the life of Savannah. The 
accomplished Oriental scholar ! how was it possible for 
him to be appreciated here? to be appreciated b}' us, 
none of whom, by opportunity or by occupation, had been 
led to make a study of the East? It was but natural, 
therefore, that he should be, as it is no exaggeration to 
say that he was, far better known as a scholar in London 
or in Paris than in Savannah. To undertake, then, ujion 
this occasion to analyze his scholarship, or to place a com- 
parative estimate upon him as a scholar, woiild be as 
unbecoming in me as to you it would be uni)rofitable. 
Better turn to the estimate placed upon him by others — 
by his literary comrades, themselves active and distin- 



21 

guished in the world of letters. I read the following 
seaitences from an article published in the North American 
Bevieiv during its palmiest days, in the year 1832. The 
words introduce a highly complimentary criticism of two 
of Mr, Hodgson's works on the Berber language. 

"These publications exhibit very satisfactory evidences 
of the zeal and industry with which Mr. Hodgson em- 
ployed the opportunities afforded him by his residence 
at the Consulate at Algiers, for the purpose of extending 
his own knowledge of foreign languages, and increasing 
the general stock of pliilos )pliical learning. The want of 
a competent Oriental interpreter had been sensibly felt 
at the Department of State on several occasions of con- 
siderable importance, and Mr. Hodgson was attached to 
the Consulate at Algiers, then under the direction of Mr. 
Shaler, for the purpose of enabling him to qualify himself 
for this service. He had previously exhibited a decided 
talent for the acquisition of foreign, and particuiarl}^ Orien- 
tal languages, and the results of his studies at Algiers 
proved that the selection was judicious and fortunate. "We 
are glad to perceive that though withdrawn from Algiers, 
Mr. Hodgson has been retained in the pul)lic service by the 
present administration, and that he has been recently at- 
tached to the legation at Constantinople, in the quality 
of Interpreting Secretary. This situation is still more favor- 
able for literary and philological researches than the other, 
and we look forward with high expectations to the fruits 
of his labors in this rich field." 

I read next from a volume published in the year 1873, 
the long interval — forty-one years — between the dates of 
the two eulogistic references to Mr. Hodgson, itself indi- 
cating the firm grasp which his scholarship had fixed upon 



22 

tlie litorary world, I read the dedication by Dr. Mayo of 

his work, "The ]ierl)er." 

"To WilUuin n. ILxhjson, Esq.: 

" Sir — To no one could a work bearing the title of ' The 
Berber' be more appropriately inscribed than to yourself, 
for no one has done more to elucidate the ethnography 
of that mysterious and interesting people. Your transla- 
tions of a portion of the Gospels into the Berber tongue ; 
your vocabulary of words and phrases ; your valuable essays 
in relation to the divisions, history and customs of the 
mhabitants of the Atlas — the results of your personal ob- 
servations while engaged in the diplomatic service of the 
United States at Algiers and at Tunis — have been noticed 
in the most flattering terms by Pritchard and other dis- 
tinguished ethnographers. Of course, my testimony can 
add nothing to the estimate placed u})on your labors by 
those best qualified to judge; but it is a gratification to 
me to acknowledge my indebtedness, and to express the 
feelings of personal friendship and consideration, with 
which I am, your obedient servant. The Authoj{." 

The appreciation placed upon the scholarship of Mr. 
Hodgson by the scholastic world — by the savans of both 
hemispheres — is exhibited in the literary distinctions which 
were bestowed upon him. He was made a foreign member 
of the Koyal Asiatic Society of London ; a member of 
the American Philosophical Society of Philadelphia ; a 
foreign member of the Asiatic Society of Paris ; a mem- 
ber of the Oriental Society of Boston, and of the Ethno- 
logical Society of New York; a foreign member of the 
Ethnological Society of Paris ; and the degrees, first of Mas- 
ter of Arts, and next of Doctor of Laws, were conferred 
upon him by the University of Princeton — conferred upon 
him who had never taken the degree of Bachelor of Arts 



2S 

from any institution of learning; who owed his education 
and all of his opportunities, and all of his attainments 
and honors, to his own efforts, and to the Library. 

In the Library, then, does his image find its appropriate 
place." From the Library can he legitimately speak, 
through the history of his life, earnest words of invita- 
tion. Come! and make the acquaintance of the great, 
the wise, the gifted of earth — not as they lived in ma- 
terial forms, with the frailties of our common humanity 
about them, but as, in moments of purest inspiration 
and sublimest achievement, they l)ecame, in books, im- 
mortal. Li your hours of loneliness, come ! and they 
will give you companionship. In your hours of depres- 
sion, come! and they will give you encouragement. In 
your thirst for knowledge, come! and they will give you 
purest water. Here are companions who will ever respond 
promptly to your call ; who will never weary of your 
presence. Here are friends, who will advise and instruct, 
exalt and purify, cheer and charm you ; who will never 
sting or deceive, desert or deny, malign or betray you. 
These were my fiiends, come! and make them yours! 

This beautiful and touching address, the fitting eulogium 
of a scholar by a man of genius and culture, was received 
with the most hearty applause. 

MUSIC. 

Quartette, Mendelssohn. 

* At tliis point in the address, General .Jackson gracefully turned to llie 
portrait, which, up to this time, was veiled and had not yet been seen l)y 
the public; the curtains were withdrawn, and the gaze of tiie assembly was 
fi.ved on tlit^ living features of Mr. Hodgson. To luuidrcds of his fellow- 
citizens, who remembered liim so well, it was a d(Ti'j;htful surprises to see his 
familiar form and face in the appropriate surrouudings of his lil»rary, and 
depicted so naturally on the enduring canvas. 



Dr. E. D. Arnold, one of the three original founders 
of the Society, and now its oldest Curator, then read the 
following paper, commemorative of the Society's first Cor- 
responding Secretary, 

I. K. TEFFT, ESQ. 

Lcidiefi and Gentlemen of the Georgia UisforicaJ Society : 

Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes 
EmoUit morcf?, nee sinit esse feros. 

"To have studied carefully the liberal arts is the surest 
mode of refining the grossness, and subduing the harshness 
of the human mind." 

The ceremonies which you have just witnessed mark an 
important epoch in the annals of the Georgia Historical 
Society. It has been made the recijiient of a fine and 
costly building, to be devoted to the purposes of literary 
culture, wdiicli fact attests alike the generosity of the donors 
and their refined taste. I say donors, without pretending 
to legal accuracy, because, called as this building is, " Hodg- 
son Hall," erected to commemorate his name, we have 
ample proof that it is but the consummation of a long 
cherished intention of those three individuals, William B. 
Hodgson, Mrs. Hodgson, and Miss Mary Telfair, enter- 
tained during their Hves, and I trace its inception to the 
literary culture which so eminently distinguished the gentle- 
man after wliom this Hall is named, and to the influence 
shed by his example on the two intelligent ladies with 
whom he was so long connected. Tliey lived in an intel- 
lectual atmosphere. Hence the famihar quotation which 
I have adopted as a motto, came to my mind as appropriate 
to the memory of so amiable a man and so accomplished 
scholar as the late William B. Hodgson. 
I 



25 

But recollection brouglit back to my memory the name 
of another man to whom the sentiment of the quotation 
is equally applicable, whose literary tastes laid the corner- 
stone of our Society, and whose unobtrusive but useful 
career in life may be properly pointed out as an example 
for our rising generation, and as an illustration of the 
elevating tendencies of literary culture. I allude to the 
late Israel K. Tefft, with whom many of you were personally 
familiar, and whose portrait now adorns our walls. I 
have thought that a short biographical sketch of Mr. Teift 
would not be without interest or instruction on an impor- 
tant occasion like the present, and would show the effect 
which his literary tastes had on securing him an honorable 
position during life, and affectionate memories after death. 

Israel Keecli Tefft was born at Smithfield, Rhode Is- 
land, February 12, 1795. When he was three years old 
his parents moved to Boston. He lost his father when 
he was only six years old, and his mother when he was 
thirteen. He was thus thrown upon his own resources 
at a tender age, and was obliged to work for a bare sup- 
port, which he did on a farm in Connecticut whither he 
had moved with his brother. But (as showing his in- 
stincts for self -improvement), he devoted a part of his time 
to going to school. 

While thus laboring on a farm, he was sent to collect 
a bill from the wealthy manufacturing house of James B. 
Mason & Co. The bill was somewhat soiled and torn, 
and Mr. Mason making some remarks about it, Israel K. 
Tefft, then a boy of thirteen, said, "I will write another," 
at the same time, stepping on a bench, for he was small 
for one of his age, wrote out another. This was done 
with such alacrity, and the handwriting was so beautiful and 
legible, that Mr. Mason was not only surprised, but much 



26 

pleased. Suffice it to say, before the young lad liad left tlie 
office of the wealthy manufacturer, he had been engaged 
to write for him on Saturdays. This continued until the 
close of the school session, when Mr. Mason employed 
him as his book-keeper, his brother William giving him 
permission to leave the farm. 

This was a t\irning point in Mr. Tefft's life. He acquired 
the confidence of his eni])l()verH, and, in 1816, he entered 
into business for himself, removing to Savannah. Here 
he pursued a sudcessful business until the end of 1819, 
when a commercial collapse ensued, and he fell amongst 
others. In January, 1820, occurred the memorable fire 
which laid one-third of the city in ashes. Thus thrown 
out of employment, he determined to devote himself to a 
literary career. A retrospect of the condition of afiairs at 
that time is necessary for a full understanding. 

On the 25th of November, 1818, the first number of 
The Georgian was issued by Dr. John M. Harney, an 
erratic son of genius, whose remarkable "curse upon Sa- 
vannah" has giving him an undying notoriety amongst us. 
Harney was a brilliant Bohemian, and he exhausted 
the patience and the purses of his friends, which were 
both on a liberal scale. 

Mr. Tefft saw his opportunity. The late distinguished 
actor, Harry James Finn, came to Savannah in the fall of 
1818, in the dramatic company of Mr. Gilfert, when the 
present Savannah Theatre was first opened. That com- 
pany was a bright galaxy of histrionic talent. On the 
21st of March, 1821, The Georgian appeared with the 
name of Tefft & Finn at its head. 

Mr. Finn did not continue long in his vocation as editor. 
He resumed his profession, and adopted an entirely new 
line of acting, and when untimely death occurred, from 



27 

his being burnt up on a steamer on Long Island Sound, 
he had acquired the reputation of the best representative 
of genteel comedy who had ever graced the American 
stage. 

Mr. Tefft edited the paper alone for some time, when 
he sold it to Mr. George Robertson, who afterwards as- 
sociated his brother, AVilliam Robertson, with him. Mr. 
Tefft ever showing a lively interest in the prosperity of 
the paper, and my first intimacy with him commenced 
when, in January, 1833, I became joint editor and pro- 
prietor with my esteemed friend Wilham H. Bulloch. In 
1822 Mr. Tefft entered the State Bank as a clerk. He 
was gradually promoted to the tellership and finally to 
the cashiership, which latter ofiice he held at the time of 
his death. He was elected cashier in 1848, and he died 
at his residence, southwest corner of Jones and Bull streets, 
on the 30th of June, 1862. 

When Mr. Tefft gave up The Georgian he did not give 
up his literary pursuits. He took an active part in try- 
ing to develop American literature, which we all know 
was then in its very cradle. I have this night endeavored 
to recall the history of Mr. Teft't as a tribute to an old 
friend and as a striking example of the purifying and eleva- 
ing tendencies of cultivating the liberal arts. 

He was young and married. His means were most 
limited. He boldly forced his fortune, on his clerk's salary. 
His literary researches took the turn of autographs. The 
collections of autographs, particularly those illustrating our 
Revolutionary history, became a jjassion with him. Quietly, 
unostentatiously, he worked this literary mine. Patience 
and perseverance reaped their usual reward. Gradually 
he accumulated a rare and valuable collection. His reputa- 
tion as a successful autograph collector became spread 



28 

abroad. He had been particularly fortunate in liis material 
for Revolutionary history. He had not obtained mere 
signatures, but veiy many long and interesting letters 
upon contemporary affairs from the hands of some of the 
most distinguished men of those times. His correspond- 
ence with various distinguished collectors in all parts of 
the cultivated world became extensive. His rich collection, 
as to Revolutionary matter, enabled him to supply his 
correspondents with many valuable originals in exchange 
for others of a different era. Thus his autograph col- 
lection became one of great extent and value, and there 
was no individual in Savannah who had a more varied 
and extensive literary acquaintance than Mr. Tefft. 

I speak fi'om a long and intimate acquaintance, when 
I say that no man of any literary eminence ever visited 
Savannah without bringing a letter of introduction to him, 
and I have been indebted to him for many pleasant asso- 
ciations with men who have adorned and who still adorn 
American literature. 

As I have stated in a former address, which you have 
pubhshed in your records, in which I gave the history of 
the origin of this Society, its formation had for its corner- 
store the valuable autographic collection of Mr. Tefft. 

He entered into the project with enthusiasm, he worked 
for it with unflagging zeal up to the time of his death. 
He never seemed tired, and I have no doubt, as he had 
the misfortune to see his three sons cut off in their man- 
hood (no lineal heir succeeding), that the occupation thus 
afforded him gilded in some measure the sunset of his life. 

To the older members of the Society, the memory of 
I. K. Tefft is inseparably connected with its history as 
one of its original founders, and one of its most zealous 
supporters. 



29 

I have wished to pay this tribute to his memory, and 
at the same time to point him out as a signal example 
of the beneficial effects of a literary taste, both by its 
having afforded him a scope for real usefulness to society, 
and by its earning for him the respect and affection of 
his friends for his kind, unostentatious career during life. 

Dr. Arnold's address was warmly greeted as a truthful 
tribute to the character of Mr. Tefft, whose interest in 
the Georgia Historical Society never flagged during the 
long period of twenty-three years in which he was its 
Corresponding Secretary. 

MUSIC. 

" Lucrezia Borgia " — Chorus Donizetti. 

THE BENEDICTION 

was then pronounced by the Kev. Dr. Axson, and the 
assembly dispersed, highly gratified with the ceremonies 
of the public opening of Hodgson Hall. 

If exercises like these have never occurred before in 
the history of this city, perhaps the example, thus com- 
memorated, of a liberal pubhc spirit and a wise use of 
wealth, will not be hereafter without imitators, to the 
honor of themselves, and to the lasting benefit of 
Savannah. 



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